Astronaut Scholarship

Astronaut scholar day flyer

Astronaut Scholar Day

The Center for Undergraduate Research  & Fellowships welcomes the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation to host the Astronaut Scholar Day with a theme of Mission Critical: Rescuing Discoveries event. STEM students are invited to attend this event held in-person and virtually. Students will hear from Astronaut Kathy Thornton on her research and career at NASA where she was a mission specialist that has logged over 975 hours in space which included servicing and repairing the Hubble Space Telescope. Students will also hear from the Astronaut Scholarship winner Alexa Magstadt who will share her own journey to scientific discovery. This event is open to all KU students and local high school students.

This event will be livestreamed on March 12, 2026 from 3:30Pm 5:00pm with a light refreshment after the event.
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The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation provides prestigious scholarships of up to $15,000 for "outstanding students who exhibit motivation, imagination and exceptional performance in the fields of engineering, mathematics and natural or applied sciences." As of 2015, KU is one of a select number of institutions that may nominate students for this award.

Selection Criteria

Students eligible for the current application cycle are those who:

  • major in natural or applied science, engineering or mathematics (biomedical research students are eligible; pre-med students are not).
  • will be a junior or senior at the beginning of the next academic year
  • will maintain full-time student status during the coming academic year.
  • will have completed two years of full-time study at the University of Kansas by the coming fall semester.
  • have conducted a considerable amount of research in their field.
  • are U.S. citizens.

Faculty members must nominate students for the award; students may not apply directly.

Selection Process

Please contact the Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships at curf@ku.edu for more information. The campus competition to select KU's two annual nominees is typically in late October.